Vol. 4, No. 3 (October 1978)

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October 1978 issue of Art-Language penned anonymously and focusing on John Berger's "Ways of Seeing." "Art-Language, Volume 4, Number 3 is an attempt to produce a guide to 'Ways of Seeing' by John Berger et al. It might be argued that 'Ways of Seeing' has already been dispensed with, that it is obvious to anyone worth talking to that it is a bad book, etc. But it is a paradigm of sorts. It pricks the liberal conscience from the Left and enlightens the inert mass from above. It is widely recommended to art students and to others studying the arts. It suffers from an almost incredible number and variety of defects. Some of them were pointed out long ago, others are made explicit here for the first time. An adequate criticism of 'Ways of Seeing' will be in part the criticism of a paradigm. It will be clear to many readers that this is more than just a criticism stuck to the text. It is a detailed examination of a broad range of attempts at mystification and the conditions of their occurrence." -- authors statement